Child among 3 dead after explosion and fire at Ohio house

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A 2-year-old girl and two adults were found dead after an apparent explosion ignited a fire at an Ohio home, police said Thursday.

Because details of the cause remain unclear, authorities said homicide detectives are investigating the Wednesday evening blast in the neighborhood several miles southeast of downtown Columbus.

“They’ll kind of work with us on this, just to make sure that these fatalities are solely related to an accidental fire and not something else and the fire is to hide that,” Battalion Chief Steve Martin of the Columbus Division of Fire told WCMH-TV.

Neighbors had reported hearing a loud boom that shook nearby homes.

Police said 33-year-old Nerissa Distin, 42-year-old Gary Morris and the child were inside the scorched, two-story house. They didn’t immediately release the girl’s name.

Two other children lived at the home but weren’t there at the time of the blaze, firefighters said.